St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-04-13
BAR. | Their.
Place of Observation
THE TOBACCO HABIT.

That tobacco is luxury those who use
the weed are ready to verify. That it is
costly luxury is generally conceded and
fully demonstrated by some figures in re-
cent number of the American Grocer, which
has made careful estimate of the nations
tobacco bill and places it at 1865, 500, 900, or
about So. A per capita. Allowing that only
one-fifth of the population makes use Of the
weed, the average expenditure of each user
is about SIT per year. These figures fur
nish good text for the tobacco refOrmers
and they are making good use Of it. They
point out the fact that more money is spent
for tobacco than for sugar, almost twice as
much as for tea and coffee. and half time
as much as is spent upon schools. Of the
total amount expended for tobacco each
year $50, ZOO, 900 are spent for chewing
tobacco. $50 900, 600 for smoking tobacco
Sc, 500, 600 for cigarettes and the remainder
for cigars. This leads one anti tobacco
journal to remark that more money is
burned up in the shape of cigars than is
consumed by all the accidental fires i'll the
United States, and that tobacco costs
almost as much as fuel.
This is very strong indictment against
the tobacco consumers. But before con-
viction on it they ought to be allowed to be
heard in their own defense. They will
doubtless plead guilty to that part of the in
dictment which alleges the tobacco habit to
bea filthy one. Its claim.to decency cannot
be vindicated on any ground, especially that
part of it which refers to the habit of to-
bacco chewing. But to that part of the
Indictment which alleges that the money
spent for tobacco is wasted the tobacco
users will plead not guilty. They will say
that every dollar spent for tobacco puts a
dollars worth of bread and meat in some
body's mouth or a dollars worth of clothing
on somebody's back. And they will prove
it, too. When man steps up to cigar
stand, pays quarter for a cigar and then
! deliberately applies match to it and burns
it up, it looks to the ordinary observer to be
wilful waste if not an absolute destruction
of that much money. To say nothing of the
pleasure the smoker derives from his cigar
while 1t is being burned up, we will trace
that quarter of dollar along back to where
the tobacco first started from and see how
many people it has benefited and how much
it has grown since the tobacco first started
to grow. There is the farmer who first
' set out the tobacco plant He got
enough profit on it to pay
i for his labor while cultivating the crop to
pay the tax on his land. the interest on
! his money invested in the land and enough
over to aid in liquidating his farm and
family expenses. When it left his hands
the tobacco plant went to the commission
merchant, who made profit to enable him
to make living for himself and family.
Then the tobacco manufacturer got hold OF
it, and he realized a profit to pay fail
interest on the investment in his machinery
and to give employment to number of
laborers who work in his factory. Then
when it went out on the market in the
shape of cigar the commercial tourist
made a living out of it, as did the retail
dealer who sold the cigar to the man who
burned it up. Thus the tobacco consumer
will show that the much abused weed has
been real philanthropist, and has really
done more to help deserving poor paople
along in the world than great many per-
sons who devote so much time to abusing
it. But the defendants will not stop there.
They will allege that while the man who
smoked the cigar was out of pocket the
twenty-five cents he paid for it, still he was
able to spend it, and got the worth of his
money in the enjoyment he had while
smoking the cigar. They plant themselves
upon the broad, ground that only those
enjoy luxuries who are able to pay tor
the bills. They will still further argue
that while tobacco is a luxury to some
people it is necessary luxury and abso.
lutely beneficial. They will say it is as
much of a necessity as to use lard and but
ter in pie crust or to wear silk hats on Sun
day. They will say that the laboring man
who finds consolation in his pipe after the